Monday, April 14, 2008

see our bees

i got into the bees today for the first time. it was a huge adrenaline rush. their buzzing was so captivating surrounding me that i could hear nothing else. it was kinda like fear and intrigue blended into a meditative curiosity.

i treated them with toms natural mite remedy.the recipe for part one follows:2 pounds of powdered sugar5 jars of garlic powder 2.5 ounces eachmix completely with a whisk.package and store in the fridge.pour 1 cup of the mix over top of the bees in the hive and close it up.

part two is incorporated in the smokers tinder.recipe for part two is:dried sumac berry clumpsdried pine needlesbuild the smoker as follows. cover the bottom with a few clumps of sumac fill the center with pine needles and light to a hot flame shove another thick layer of sumac berries on top and get burning until the berries pop. cover the smoker and squeeze a few test puffs. smoke the bees as normal to get them to settle down. after all bee work is finished puff six or seven times into the closed hive and let them recover.

this is the lessor hive. i was amazed how many bees there were.

this is the more robust hive. bees were just pouring out of the thing.

here is a step by step slide show of the entire experience.

now that i have gotten over my initial fear--just a quick visit to medicate them. this weekend i will replace their bases with the new ones that i just purchased. the new bases have screened bottoms. this serves two purposes. if there are any mites they occasionally fall off. when they fall they fall through the screen and cannot crawl back to another bee. there is a catch tray that is easily pulled out from the back of the hive. this affords easy monitoring of any mite trouble. additionally having a screened bottom allows for better ventilation. during the extreme heat of missouri summers they spend tons of energy trying to cool the hive.

I'm building my hives now—nucs should arrive mid-May. I used some Christmas money from my mother-in-law to splurge on a bee suit. I'll admit to being a bit apprehensive about the active hives as well, so I went for big protection, novice that I am.

I'm so impressed that you're working without gloves! I know folks talk about being more nimble without gloves, but I'm just not sure I can muster it at first. Maybe I'll ease into it. I loved your description of the sound.

em, i don't have any of the honey collection boxes (supers) on the hive yet. they can only affect the flavor of their own (brood) boxes. tansey, the old timer beekeeper couldn't properly explain the reason that it worked but swears that it does. i believe him. matt, no stings yet. woody, i highly recommend it. it is so exciting. i can see why people keep it as a passionate hobby.jayedee, i too am interested to see things develop.tammy, i am excited for you also. i hope you blog about them extensively.danielle, tom swore that i wouldn't need anything except a smoker this time of year. i believe him but would never do it.madeline, like woody noticed that yellow outfit was just a free disposable hospital gown and a cheap, cheap hood--total cost $15.sasha, thanks, bees are really fun especially for the kids to see.robbyn, thank you we try to stay away from pesticides in every other area of our lives. so we'll pursue this course as far as possible without causing catastrophic results.